Code Red, The Best Way To Protect You And Your Family

(Updated January 29th, 2014) Flagler County Emergency Services wants to encourage residents to sign up for the notification system known as Code Red.
“It was a very effective tool used to notify residents of the recent Palm Coast tornado,” Flagler County Public Safety and Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said. “It pinpointed the areas in the path of the storm and notified residents of its approach.”
Some residents were concerned that they were not notified of the storm, but that was due to the manner in which the system works. “When a storm like the tornado approaches, Code Red does not notify the entire county or a city,” Guthrie said. “It only notifies those areas likely to be affected by the storm.”
Guthrie said, like the boy who cried wolf too often, a system that sends out an alarm each time there is bad weather anywhere in the county, would quickly lose its usefulness to residents when they are alerted and nothing happens.

“It would not be long and they would ignore the warnings. Code Red allows us to be precise in the areas notified for weather, chemical spills, wild fires and other dangers,” Guthrie said.
Signing up for Code Red is a simple process. Residents with computers can go on-line to the Flagler County website at www.flaglercounty.org and click on the Code Red box below

Residents who do not have access to a computer can call 313-4200 and be signed up for the service.
“It is our most useful tool for mass notification of our residents,” Guthrie said. “Signing up for this service could save your life.”

Also for WARNINGS WERE EVER YOU ARE

The CodeRED Mobile Alert app provides advanced, real-time, hyperlocal alerts to subscribers within the reach of a given geofence location generated by public safety officials across the United States and Canada. The app provides localized alerts using the location services function of iOS and Android smartphones; requiring subscribers to enable their GPS services so the app can deliver location-based multimedia alerts using push technology.
Emergency management and other public safety officials who utilize the CodeRED high speed emergency notification system initiate notifications, ranging from missing persons, wildfires, evacuations, active shooter and severe weather alerts including preparedness and recovery information related to hurricanes, nor’easters and more.
Emergency, general and missing person advanced mobile alerts are always free. The CodeRED Mobile Alert app also comes with a complimentary 30-day trial of CodeRED Weather Warning™, a program that sends subscribers mobile communications when they are in the projected path of severe weather in the United States. Notifications are received from The National Weather Service and immediately communicated with CodeRED Mobile Alert subscribers without any delay. The CodeRED Weather Warning add-on is an additional $4.99 per year but is not required to purchase to receive emergency, general and missing person alerts.
Questions or comments? Call us toll-free at 866-533-6935 or via email at mobilecontactus@ecnetwork.com. When leaving us a voicemail, be sure to give your phone number and/or email address so that we can respond. When emailing, email from the address we can respond to and/or include a phone number in your message.

FLAGLER COUNTY WILL SEND YOU A CODE RED TEST MESSAGE TODAY
New County Weather Warning System Launches Tuesday

February 11, 2011 Bunnell Fl. -- Virtually every resident in Flagler County with a published phone number will get a phone call on Tuesday February 15, but rather than the usual sales calls it will be a phone call that one day may save their life.

Flagler County has expanded its CodeRED telephone notification system to include Weather Warning. This Tuesday Flagler County Emergency Management will initiate an automated Code RED call to most residents informing them of the expanded service called Weather Warning.

Residents who want to be notified by telephone for tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings are required to sign up for the free telephone notification. They can sign up by going to www.FlaglerEmergency.com and clicking on the "CodeRED" link or by calling Flagler County Emergency Management at (386) 313-4200.

"The service will provide citizens instant notification of severe weather warnings when issued by the National Weather Service," Troy Harper Division Chief of Flagler County's Emergency Management.

When a Weather Warning call comes in the caller ID will display either "Emergency Communications Network" or the telephone number (800) 566-9780. "If residents miss the call they can simply dial the number to hear the last message sent to them," Harper said. "This will allow the residents to have the most up to date warnings in the palm of their hand."

"CodeRED and Weather Warning are part of a sophisticated high speed notification network that enables Flagler County Emergency Management to quickly communicate time-sensitive, personalized messages via voice, email and text messaging," Harper said. "Citizens already receiving alerts from CodeRED must register to begin receiving alerts from Weather Warning. New users should register for both CodeRED and Weather Warning to get fast accurate emergency information."

I also received my call today. @ 10:10 am. Now my curiosity has the better of me... How much time can/should/does elapse between when the call is initiated and it is actually received by the users? Minutes can mean lives, and I agree this is a system that is good I am not knocking it, however I do know that in the last severe thunderstorm / tornado warning that there was a 9 minute lag between my weather radio and the Brighthouse TV warning label. It's not much but in 9 minutes a tornado can typically travel 5 miles or further...Depending on where it started in a worse case scenario that would cover the distance from Belle Terre Elementary School, through Wadsworth, Buddy Taylor, Rymfire, Imagine Charter and Flagler Palm Coast High School.

"Zipity Do Da, Zipity Day, My oh My what a Wonderful Day"
Plenty of Sunshine - Not much rain!

It appears that I got two calls this morning @ 10:29 and 10:35AM , this is a great amendment to the warning system , however with the trend toward home phones being replaced by cels it won't be complete. I still think the Emergency broadcast system should be expanded to local internet sites as well as traditional methods.

I think an RSS feed from http://www.flagleremergency.com/ would be of great service to the county. As a public service with the mission to dispense pertinent information to the entire county, I don't understand why it's not already enabled.

Most website software packages have an RSS option that can be enabled for updates . I suppose it would not be as inflating to the individual ego, but it seems like it would be far more efficient at that mission than a Public employee manually entering notices on a select Private sites that excludes some citizens and taxpayers.

RSS updates could be visible on all sites that subscribed within 10 minutes of publication.

The scent of fresh cut grass is plants screaming.
Abolish Lawns and golf courses! Suppression of grasses is an inter-kingdom hate crime.
TAX TURF NOT EARTH

even if you have previously registered you must re register

Just received another call at 10:12 I am glad they are being persistent After listening to the message it is clear that even if you have previously registered you must re register at http://www.flagleremergency.com/

The scent of fresh cut grass is plants screaming.
Abolish Lawns and golf courses! Suppression of grasses is an inter-kingdom hate crime.
TAX TURF NOT EARTH

Palm Coast leaders: New alert system saves lives

“This is an automated Code Red weather warning. Moments ago, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for your area.”
That's a portion of the call that went out to residents in the path of last month's tornado that ripped through three Palm Coast neighborhoods.
The call went out just minutes before homes were destroyed, giving people precious time to get ready.
But those few moments are key, said Kevin Guthrie, the Emergency Management Director for Flagler County.
“In many, many times, especially when you're dealing with a tornado, it could be the difference between life and death,” Guthrie said.

Following last month's tornado there were some complaints form people living in other parts of the city that they didn't get a phone call. That's precisely why emergency managers like this system.
Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle said that keeps the Code Red system from "crying wolf" and making people tune out.
“It only affected the area we needed to notify people of what was going on," Beadle said. :Those outside that area didn't need to know.”

Re: Code Red, The Best Way To Protect You And Your Family

I just saw this one I am going to install on my phone. It uses your GPS to alert you of warnings wherever you are.

Have an iPhone or an AndroidDownload the free CodeRED Mobile Alert app today to stay informed of community, emergency and severe weather alerts directly on your mobile device. The app is geo-aware, meaning that you will only receive alerts that impact your specific location.

City of Palm Coast to participate in university research regarding emergency notificatio

The City of Palm Coast is participating in a new University of Missouri-Columbia research study regarding emergency tornado notification.

On Dec. 14, 2013, the National Weather Service reported an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 110 mph that touched down and crossed the northern sections of Palm Coast. The survey will help researchers learn how residents and businesses inside the City were notified of the tornado threat and what they did with the information, in an effort to understand how people receive and react to emergency information.
The survey will be open Monday, Feb. 3, through Monday, Feb. 17. The researchers are asking all adults (age 18 or older) who live(d) in Palm Coast in December 2013 to participate in the survey - whether they live(d) in the neighborhoods affected by the Starlight Tornado or not.
The survey may be completed online by visiting the City website at www.palmcoastgov.com and clicking on the CodeRED logo. Those who would prefer to complete the survey by telephone may call toll-free at 800-453-8436.
The results of the survey will be shared with the City of Palm Coast in an effort to continuously improve emergency communication initiatives and outreach. The City currently utilizes the CodeRED emergency notification system to provide automated warnings of impending severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods, as well as City or neighborhood emergency alerts. To register for future notifications, visit www.palmcoastgov.com to submit information into the emergency database, which will only be used for Palm Coast emergency alerts.
"We are very excited that our City was selected to participate in this survey, and we look forward to partnering with the University of Missouri-Columbia for this research initiative," said Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle. "We encourage all of our residents who are over 18 to make sure they participate. The findings of this research will help us understand any communication limitations that exist within our community and ways we can improve early warning communication to our citizens to protect life and property."
The University of Missouri-Columbia study will also survey residents and businesses in Douglas County, Ill., which was impacted by an EF-3 tornado in November 2013 for a comparison of emergency notification technology utilized and how it was received by the public for weather warning notification. The principal investigator of this research is Stephanie Meyers, graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia.For more information, contact:
City of Palm Coast: Cindi Lane, 386-986-3708, clane@palmcoastgov.com
University of Missouri-Columbia: Stephanie Meyers, 386-944-7269 ext. 1178, seghx4@mail.missouri.edu

Re: City of Palm Coast to participate in university research regarding emergency notific

CodeRED

Register Now
CodeRED is a high-speed emergency notification system used by the City of Palm Coast to notify residents and businesses in minutes about emergencies that may impact their safety.Click here to register.Take The Survey

Take the Survey Now
The City of Palm Coast keeps residents and businesses informed of emergencies and other time-sensitive information through CodeRED, a high-speed emergency notification solution provided by Emergency Communications Network. The City of Palm Coast uses CodeRED to quickly and effectively keep the community informed of time sensitive information that may impact the entire City, or specific neighborhoods. To see how the CodeRED system works, click here.New! The City of Palm Coast has been selected to participate in a University of Missouri-Columbia research study regarding emergency tornado notification. On December 14, 2013, the National Weather Service reported a EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 110 mph touched down and crossed the northern sections of Palm Coast. The survey will help researchers learn how exactly Palm Coast residents were notified of the tornado threat and the action they took once the emergency alert was received. All persons who lived in Palm Coast during the December 14, 2013 tornado are invited to participate in the survey. You may either take the survey online or by telephone.Click here to take the online survey.
Call toll-free (800) 453-8436 to complete the survey by telephone.
Please note: If you are unsure of whether your contact information is in the City of Palm Coast CodeRED emergency database, or you have recently moved or changed your telephone number, it is important to visit the enrollment page above to add or update your information.
The City of Palm Coast will use the CodeRED system to keep you informed of emergency information that may impact your safety by sending you telephone calls, text messages and emails. Messages may regard evacuations, police activity, missing children, boil water notices or other information that you are asked to take immediate action or precautions for.
As an extra tool to keep our community safe, the City of Palm Coast also provides CodeRED Weather Warning, which sends automatic phone calls, emails and text messages to residents and businesses in the direct path of a severe thunderstorm, tornado or flash flood. During enrollment, you may select the types of warnings you would like to receive. Weather Warnings are only delivered to those residents and businesses who enroll, so please make sure you are in the database. Make sure to tell family, friends and co-workers who live in Palm Coast about this free service and encourage them to enroll.Identifying Notifications

You will know the call is from the City of Palm Coast when you see the following Caller IDs. Please make sure to add these telephone numbers to your phone's contacts. If you would like to hear the last message delivered to your phone, simply dial the number back.
Emergency Comm 866-419-5000
ECN Community 855-969-4636
Emergency Comm Weather Alert 800-566-9780

2/4/2014 2:50:28 PM EST - THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS RELAYED ON THE BEHALF OF THE CITY OF PALM COAST:

The City of Palm Coast is participating in a new University of Missouri-Columbia research study regarding emergency tornado notification and is encouraging all Palm Coast residents to take the survey. The survey will help researchers learn how residents and businesses inside the City were notified of the Starlight Tornado threat on Dec. 14, 2013, and what they did with the information, in an effort to understand how people receive and react to emergency information.

All adults who lived in Palm Coast in December 2013 are encouraged to take the survey – whether they lived in the neighborhoods affected by the Starlight Tornado or not and whether they were directly affected by the tornado or not.